The Honolulu Liquor Commission is renewing its “Don’t Drown Your Future” television advertising campaign during the holiday season in an effort to deter underage drinking as well as drinking-and-driving.

The campaign is being done under a $30,000 contract with a local television station and involves two, 30-second public service announcements running more than 400 times.

The “Don’t Drown Your Future” campaign actually began with a series of ads in May to target youths during the graduation party season, said Liquor Commission spokeswoman Cathy Lee, who is spearheading the campaign.

The current holiday campaign began around Thanksgiving and will run through January, Lee said. “Mostly our target audience are the teens, the ones in the 18 to 21 age range,” she said.

One 30-second spot shows folks of various ages, including toddlers, gathered for a typical holiday gathering at someone’s home. When one person asks another if he’d like a glass a wine, the young man politely declines. The closing shot shows the alcohol-free partiers gathered on the lanai watching fireworks.

“There’s something about being around the people that mean the most to you that just can’t be replaced,” a young woman narrator says. “And you don’t have to drink to have a good time. By being present and clear-headed, these moments will make lasting memories for ourselves and future generations,” she says. “There are lots of special moments to be had if we let our children be children. Don’t drown your future.”

Another ad, a holdover from the spring, features University of Montana quarterback Marcus Hee, a 2019 Roosevelt High School graduate, and three other youths eating shave ice, enjoying a campfire and playing music at the beach, and going hiking.

“There’s so much to do, lots of amazing times to be had, especially in Hawaii, things that don’t involve getting wasted,” Hee says in a voiceover narration. “You don’t have to drink to have a good time. You do have to be able to know what you’re doing. Why not have clear eyes? Focus on the good times and what’s ahead. Keep your options open. Don’t drown your future.”

Part of the package includes interviews that appear during morning news shows. Students from Roosevelt, St. Louis and Kaiser high schools participate in the commercials as do those attending Hawaii Pacific University.

Lee said the program ties in Liquor Commission Administrator Don Pacarro’s goal to initiate an under- age drinking prevention campaign. “We are a City and County of Honolulu regulatory agency,” she said. “One of our missions is to create healthy and safe communities and that starts by educating the teens and the youths that are making decisions every day. But we didn’t want to come off as preachy. We wanted to come from an inspirational angle.”

She added: “Our message is that if you’re under 21, you shouldn’t drink because, one, it’s against the law, and two, there is so much you can jeopardize. You can hinder not only your health, but also your academics, future goals, and your overall professional development as a young adult.”